Change for Children - a study of local families in Kensington and Chelsea

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Change for Children A study of local families in Kensington and Chelsea REPORT 1525_KCSC_30pp_Report:– 7/11/13 17:46 Page 1

description

The results of an 18 month study into the lives of families in some of the less well off parts of Kensington and Chelsea.

Transcript of Change for Children - a study of local families in Kensington and Chelsea

Page 1: Change for Children - a study of local families in Kensington and Chelsea

Change for ChildrenA study of local familiesin Kensington and Chelsea

REPORT

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements

Kensington & Chelsea Social Council would like to thank all theparticipating organisations that signed up to the project and tothose that contributed to these findings. The participatingorganisations were:

• Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre

• Al-Hasaniya Moroccan Women’s Centre

• Azza Supplementary School

• Baraka Youth Association

• Chelsea Theatre

• Colville Nursery Centre

• Dadihiye Somali Development Organisation

• Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust

• Earl’s Court Health & Wellbeing Centre

• Earl’s Court Nursery

• Earl’s Court YMCA

• Family Friends

• Greca School

• Harrow Club

• Healthier Life 4U

• Hornimans Adventure Playground

• K&C Link (now Healthwatch)

• Lancaster West Children’s Community Network

• Latymer Christian Centre

• Making Communities Work and Grow

• Meanwhile Gardens

• Midaye Somali Development Network

• Moroccan Supplementary School

• NOVA New Opportunities

• Nucleus Advice Centre

• Pimento Community Project

• Solidarity Sports

• Somali Women’s Association

• The Catholic Children’s Society

• The ClementJames Centre

• Venture Community Association

• West London Action for Children

• Westway Development Trust

• Westway Education Trust

• Woman’s Trust

• World’s End Under 5s Nursery Centre

The Social Council would also like to thank Colin Simmons fromKensington and Chelsea Play Association.

We would like to thank Yasmina Andoh who was a volunteer atthe Social Council and worked enthusiastically alongside AmbikaSharma to carry out the surveys.

And finally, thank you to Trust for London for funding this project.

Thank you to Patricia Emery and Rob Nixon for producingthe accompanying film for this report. You can view thisfilm at www.kcsc.org.uk/changeforchildren

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive Summary

This report presents the findings of the Social Council’s Changefor Children project which began in September 2012 and wasfunded by Trust for London. The project supported localvoluntary and community organisations (VCOs) to collectinformation from service users through surveys, focus groupsand interviews, and to then analyse the results. This reportdetails the findings and presents recommendations based onthis research.

Kensington & Chelsea Social Council is the local infrastructurebody for voluntary and community organisations. We are astrong advocate for local voice and through work such asChange for Children we seek to influence local decision makersto improve the lives of local residents.

This report aims to inform the reader about the lives of localfamilies living in the borough and to raise awareness of thechallenges families face in today’s tough economic climate.It also seeks to inspire those that support local families throughcreating greater opportunities for both the voluntary andcommunity sector (VCS) and the statutory sector to continueto work together to address local issues and to build onwhat works.

The report concludes with recommendations which we will use todevelop a future strategy to continue the good work establishedby the Change for Children project into 2014/15.

Key Findings

• Almost a quarter of parents reported they were living inovercrowded conditions.

• Financial insecurity was the major concern for parents,twice as likely to cause concern as rising bills.

• Half of the parents surveyed said they had struggledfinancially during the past 12 months and had to jugglebudgets to pay utility bills.

• The happiness of their children is the greatest cause ofhappiness amongst parents. This reason was cited as theprimary reason by more than a third of survey respondents.

• Parents admitted that their children had gone without someof the essentials they need, including food and clothes.

• The cost of school uniforms puts extra financial pressureon parents.

• Affordable childcare was cited as the main barrier toout-of-work parents seeking employment.

• Parents do seek help and are supported by localorganisations, family and friends in times of need.

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Moving forward

Heading into 2014 we believe that it is imperative that theVCS works closely with the statutory sector to seeksolutions to many of the issues raised in this report. Closerjoint working between the sectors to devise local strategiesthat reflect and can respond to local need will benefit localfamilies and children.

We welcome the work that has already begun with thedevelopment of the Royal Borough of Kensington andChelsea (RBKC) Child Poverty Strategy and other localinitiatives such as looking into issues around food povertyin the borough. A joint effort is needed to find solutionswhich must be adequately resourced in order to make thedifference that is so badly needed.

Introduction to Change for Children

The Change for Children project was launched in September2012. It supported local voluntary and community organisations(VCOs) in Kensington and Chelsea to gather evidence on theexperiences and needs of local children and families.

The project was led by the Social Council which supportedorganisations with carrying out surveys, focus groups andinterviews with service users and then analysing the findings.This report details the results and presents recommendationsbased on this research.

Why the need for this project?

In 2011, the Social Council launched Poverty Watch – a localobservatory bringing together voluntary and statutory sectorcolleagues from across Kensington and Chelsea. The aim wasto share information and look at solutions to improve the lives ofresidents living in deprived areas of the borough. Anecdotalevidence soon emerged of the challenges facing families, suchas the rising cost of basic necessities and the impact of changesto housing benefits.

Poverty Watch felt that it would be beneficial for voluntary andcommunity organisations to gather further data of the needs oflocal children and families. The data would help paint a moredetailed picture of the issues faced by families. It would highlighthow they dealt with those issues and the support they requiredto help them through difficult economic times.

This evidence would be useful to help agencies (both voluntarysector and statutory) to understand and work collaboratively toaddress the needs of local families.

© Dad’s House

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

How evidence was collected

The project involved 36 voluntary and community organisationsthat deliver children and family services in Kensington andChelsea. They were invited to attend training on how to carry outresearch and were provided with an accompanying researchguide. Organisations that required extra support were givenadditional one-to-one advice.

Data on the project was collected in several ways:

• A pilot survey at World’s End Under 5s Centre, attendedby 33 parents

• A focus group with parents at World’s End Under 5s Centre

• A standard survey of 113 parents carried out byparticipating organisations

• 12 door to door surveys carried out as part of a widersurvey conducted by the Dalgarno Trust.

Results from the pilot survey

World’s End Under 5s Centre, World’s End Estate,Chelsea

A pilot survey was conducted with World’s End Under 5s Centrein Chelsea amongst 33 parents who use their drop-in and crècheservice. The Under 5s Centre is situated in the south of theborough in the Cremorne Ward. The affluent Kings Road is just astone’s throw away and the disparities between rich and poor areapparent. The area is home to some of the richest and pooresthouseholds in the country.

The World’s End estate is home to 2,500 residents. It is one ofthe largest social housing hubs in Kensington and Chelsea with42% of the estate categorised as social housing.

Nearly a third of the parents surveyed by Change for Childrenlived in social housing with more than one in five living inovercrowded accommodation.

The participants came from diverse backgrounds, with just overhalf not speaking English as their first language.

Nearly four out of five said they were in receipt of some benefitswith child benefit and child tax credits being the most commonpayments (see Chart 1).

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

Benefits received

Of the 33 participants, nine described themselves as loneparents with the rest being part of a two parent household.

In terms of employment, our findings show that the father was farmore likely to be in work in a two parent household than themother. This was particularly the case if only one parent wasworking. In single income households, the father was more thantwice as likely to be employed as the mother (see Chart 2).

Who works in your household?

When parents were asked if there was any other support orservices World’s End Under 5s could provide, the majority saidthey were happy with the service they received. However, someparents would like to see longer opening hours and a regulardrop-in crèche, which as of yet has not been provided due to alack of funding.1

Alongside the pilot survey, the World’s End Under 5s Centrewas also keen to learn about the aspirations and goals of someof their service users. Facilitated by Social Council staff, thecentre organised a focus group of eight parents that engaged inan exercise which examined their wishes and the barriers thatwere stopping them from achieving these.

1 The World’s End Under 5s has a leave-in crèche for parents which runs four times a week.

Parents can only leave their children there once a week .

Chart 1 Chart 2

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

The goals that parents wanted to achieve include:

• Improved skills and education to enable them to get backinto work

• Improved general health

• Consistent childcare

• Improved housing situation

• Their child having more developed language skills

• Some free time on their own

Barriers to achieving these included:

• Lack of affordable childcare

• Time restraints

• Lack of money

When asked what support they needed to overcome barriers,responses were:

• More funding towards day trips and skill developmentclasses

• The criteria for free childcare should be widened to be moreaccommodating for single mothers with health issues

• More crèche hours

• More information about courses and free activities

• More support to develop employment skills

Dalgarno residents

The Dalgarno Trust is the local community centre located on theDalgarno estate in North Kensington. It provides a wide rangeof activities and support services for local residents.

The Change for Children project took the opportunity to speak toresidents whilst supporting the community centre in conducting adoor-to-door survey about the development of a community caféwithin the centre. A total of 12 residents who had children weresurveyed for Change for Children.

The residents said they would like to see:

• More local shops

• More information provided on what is available locally

• A local swimming pool

Additional help or support that they would like to see includes:

• Financial advice (debt and budgeting)

• Support getting back into work

• Help with getting food

• More street parties

• More neighbourliness

© Solidarity Sports

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

Results from the main survey

A total of 113 people completed the standard survey that wasdeveloped by the project. 88% of those surveyed had childrenunder 18 years of age. 75% of those who took part in theresearch lived in the borough, with a further 7% travelling in andusing services in the borough.

Accommodation

The survey began by looking at the type of housing that peoplewere living in. The table below shows the results:

Property owned outright 6%

Property rented from Local Authority 25%

Property rented from a private landlord 16%

In the process of buying a property 5%

Property rented from a Housing Association 34%

Other 7%

Not answered 7%

From the results it can be seen that three quarters of thosesurveyed live in rented accommodation, with a majority living insocial housing.

When asked further questions about their accommodationalmost a quarter described their homes as overcrowded. Thecost of moving was a key issue that was raised, as was concernabout being moved out of the borough. Some of the commentswe captured are shown here on the right.

“I am in only a one bedroom[flat] and the council are sayingthat I have to go out of London

if I want a three bedroom”Local parent aged 49, with teenage

children aged 19 and 12

“The house is overcrowded”Local parent aged 38 with

three children under 15 years

“[We] need to moveas landlord is selling [our] flat

but I can’t find anythingaffordable and don’t qualify

for social housing.”Mother aged 34 with one child

“It is very expensive,with three kids. I live in one

double bedroom”Local parent aged 38 with three children

all under the age of 7

“We’ve totally outgrownour flat but cannot afford to

move – very cramped”Mother aged 48 with two children

under 15 years

“I live in a two bedroom flat.I have an 11 year old boy who now needs

his own room. My daughter is eight years oldand they are now always fighting over

their own space”Local parent, aged 44

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CHANGE FOR CHILDREN

Are you aware of the current changes being made tothe benefit system?

Some of the comments from participants included:

Benefits and financial support

Participants were asked what benefits they received. The resultsin the table below show that Child Tax Credit had the largestnumber of claimants, followed by Housing Benefit. The researchalso highlighted that many families were in receipt of multiplebenefits.

Child Tax Credit 46%

Housing Benefit 40%

Council Tax 27%

Income Support 22%

Disability Living Allowance 9%

Job Seekers Allowance 8%

Other 9%

Participants said that they were aware of the impending changesto the benefits system (see Chart 3), however when questioned(prior to April 2013) only 21 respondents were aware of thehousing benefit cap that were set to be introduced.

“I have some awarenessof the limit to child benefit.

I learned a lot about it from theDaily Mail Website”Local parent aged 43,

with one child

“I know about the housingbenefit cap from the media, but

do not know nothing [sic]about Universal Credit”

Local parent

“I don’t know whatit is about and I hope it

won’t affect me”Anon

Chart 3

FINDINGS

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CHANGE FOR CHILDREN

Of those who were aware of the welfare changes, almost half alsosaid that they were aware of how the changes would affect them.Nearly one in five said they did not know if or how they would beaffected. Some participants also expressed concern that a reductionin housing benefit would push them further into financial difficulty.

When asked if they had sought advice regarding the changes,it was found that that only 16% had approached local organisations,the Job Centre or their housing officers for information and support.

Employment

When asked about employment, almost a third of the peoplewe surveyed had been in work for the entire previous five years.Of those respondents who had spent some of the previous fiveyears out of work more than a fifth had spent 3-5 years out ofpaid employment (see Chart 4).

Employment status over the last five years

“The course I amdoing (ESOL) will help me

find my suitable job”Mum aged 37 with twochildren under three

“Working part-timemessed up my council tax,

within three months I had a bailiff letter.I had to go to Citizens Advice

who helped me”Local parent

“I need a job thatwill pay all bills and stillbe able to buy necessitiesfor myself and my kids”

Local parent aged 38with two children

under the age of 11

Chart 5

Chart 4

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FINDINGS

We asked those who were not currently in employment about thebarriers they faced that stopped them finding work. We received avariety of responses with affordable childcare and language beingmentioned as the biggest barriers to employment (see Chart 5).

What are the barriers to seeking employment?

When talking to parents who were unemployed we found noevidence to suggest that those we surveyed did not want towork. However for those with young children, the barriers thatwere identified hindered their progress in finding work that wassuitable and flexible enough to suite their situation.

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

If you have children, how often have they had to gowithout the following in the last three years?

We asked parents about the sacrifices they themselves madewhen necessary due to financial pressures. Clothing was the topanswer with over a third saying they had gone without butworryingly over one in five had also gone without food or drink(see Chart 8).

Health and Wellbeing

Change for Children wanted to find out more about the dailypressures which parents face. When we asked parents if theyhad suffered financially over the past year, half of those surveyedsaid they had (see Chart 6).

Have you struggled financially over the last 12 months?

We wanted to know how the financial hardship was impacting onfamilies. We asked parents if their children had missed out onanything over the past three years. Holidays and pocket moneywere the top answers but nearly three in ten said their childrenhad gone without new clothes and 11% of those surveyed alsoadmitted that their children had gone without food (see Chart 7).

Chart 7

Chart 6

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

What is the first thing you go without when timesare tough?

When asked who they turn to for help when struggling financially,most (41%) survey respondents said family and friends althoughnearly a third (32%) had also sought advice from local voluntaryorganisations which include the advice agencies.

18% of participants said they did not ask anyone for help outsideof their immediate family (see Chart 9).

If you struggled, who did you seek help from?

Although many respondents have been struggling financially,they are still ensuring that their children are not going withoutfresh fruit. 41% of parents said that they still ensure that theirchildren are having fruit more than 5 times a week.

Parents are also ensuring that they have a sit-down family mealtogether more than twice a week. When asked what types offood parents were cooking they ranged from pastas and soups,to traditional meat and chicken dishes. The evidence suggeststhat the majority of children are getting at least one nutritioushot meal a day.

“My husband and I survive,thanks to our family hand-outs

at the moment”32 year old local parent withone child aged 4 years old

“I personallygo without clothingor food (for myself)”

Local parent aged 42yrs, with twochildren under age of 5

Chart 8

Chart 9

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

The feedback we received shows that an overwhelming majorityof parents whose children are required to wear school uniformsfelt that these costs put extra pressure on family finances(see Charts 11 & 12).

Does your child/children have to wear aschool uniform?

We asked survey respondents if they had tried to make savingson household bills. Nearly all had tried to reduce the usage of atleast one main utility to save money. Three in ten had tried to cuttheir expenditure on telephone and mobile bills.

We then asked if they had struggled to make bill payments ontime. Many survey respondents had difficulties paying bills inseveral areas (see Chart 10).

Which bills have you struggled to pay on time?

School uniforms

The increasing cost of school uniforms and the financialpressures it places on parents has been a strong area of focusfor Poverty Watch so questions on this were incorporated intothe survey.

Chart 10

Chart 11

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“My child’s school forced us topurchase a new design school uniform;

the basic without a compulsory school coatwas £170.00. The design logo had changed.His old uniform fitted perfectly well but it was

compulsory and we had to purchase new schooluniform with the new logo. The total for the

new school uniform was £250”Mum aged 48 with childrenaged 15 and 13 years old

“I am a single parent, billsare rising, new school uniform

is now costing me £250”38 year local parent with children

aged 11 and 3 years old

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

If your children wear school uniforms, does the costput extra pressure on your finances?

When asked specifically about costs these were some ofthe responses:

Happiness

The final part of the survey focused on the needs of participants,firstly asking them what made them happy. Our findings showeda strong link between a parent’s happiness and that of theirchildren. Over a third of our respondents stated this as theirprimary source of happiness (see Chart 13).

What makes you happy?

Chart 12

Chart 13

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENFINDINGS

“To find a good job and at thesame time be able to take care of mychildren when they aren’t in school ornursery and I will be in the work”.

Local mum

“Lack of money and not knowingwhether I will be able to pay my bills.

It is a constant worry”.Mum aged 49 with teoteenage daughters

Here are some of the comments:

When asked what made parents worried or anxious, the mostcommon issue raised was financial insecurity, which was citedtwice as often as the next most popular reasons, rising bills andbad health (see Chart 14).

What makes you worried or anxious?

To conclude the survey we asked parents what additionalservices they would like to see in the borough. The most popularresponse given by nearly half of respondents was more playcentres, drop-ins and activities for children. Training and betteremployment opportunities were requested by over a quarter ofpeople and affordable childcare by one in five (see Chart 15).

What other services would you like to see in the borough?

“Leisure activities, parentdrop-ins as they provide a socialspace to meet other mums etc”.

Mum aged 32 years old with2 children under the age of 2

“Using Venture Centre forsocialising, going to the gym for

exercise. Activities at the centre helpme to get out of the house”

Mum aged 41years oldwith five children

Chart 14

Chart 15

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENANALYSIS

Analysis

Overcrowding

From the research it was apparent that some parents were livingin overcrowded conditions and were unable to move, eitherbecause the right size property was not available or for fear ofhaving to leave the borough.

The issue of overcrowding is widely recognised withinKensington and Chelsea and the bedroom tax has since beenintroduced to try and alleviate this. However, with the lack ofappropriately sized homes to enable people to downsize in theborough, overcrowding will continue. There is also the fact thatsome parents whose children go to school in the borough wouldrather remain in overcrowded conditions than risk being movedoutside of the borough.

Cost of childcare

Parents also spoke about the cost of childcare and the realityof finding work that would pay enough to cover childcare costs.The new Universal Credit benefit system has been designed tosupport households who are on a low income and according tothe Coalition government – “make work pay”. However theevidence report published by Citizens Advice Bureau onUniversal Credit in 2013 questions its viability, particularly forparents on a low income who wish to work more than 16 hoursbut can’t because of childcare costs. In London this is particularlypertinent as the cost of childcare is 25% higher compared to therest of the UK.

In London, the average cost of a nursery place for a child undertwo is now £5.33 per hour. This means that a parent buying 50hours of childcare per week for a child under two would face anaverage annual bill of nearly £14,000 per year2.

Having enough money to pay the bills

Results showed that parents were worried about paying bills andthat when money is tight utility bills drop down the priority list.Not having enough money is a big concern, primarily because ofthe impact it has on the children. Comments from some parentsrevealed that in trying to maintain their standard of living theyhad taken up extra hours at work to ensure they could makeends meet. Some had also taken out loans and asked thoseclosest to them to lend them money.

2 Findings taken from the Childcare Cost Survey 2013 by the Daycare Trust and Family

and Parenting Institute

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENANALYSIS

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has done some extensiveresearch into Minimum Income Standards (MIS) which they stateis ‘based on the income that people need in order to reach aminimum socially acceptable standard of living in the UK’ and ‘toparticipate in society’ (JRF, 2013). The research drawsconclusions by adding up the costs of specific goods andservices, including food, clothing, childcare and fuel as well associal and cultural participation. The research concludes that fora family of two adults and two children (one aged 1-6 years oldand the other of primary school age) would need a weeklyincome of £471.15 before rent and childcare costs. A lone parentwith a single child under the age of one would need an averageweekly income of £284.58 before rent and child care.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation also argues that the MIS isbeing compounded by the welfare changes. The fact thatsalaries and welfare rates are not increasing at the same rate asinflation is resulting in individuals and families struggling to meetrising living costs.

Food Poverty

It is not easy to admit you have struggled to put food on the table,yet several parents involved in the project acknowledged that thishad been the case for them on occasion. Food poverty is on therise and it is increasingly evident in London. The London Assemblyreport Zero Hungry City states, “Many thousands of people both inwork and out of work are living in, or at risk, of food poverty”3. TheLondon Assembly argue that the scale of hunger amongst schoolchildren is a matter of great concern. This was evidenced by asurvey they carried out which found that 95% of teacherswitnessed children arriving at school hungry and that 60% ofteachers had given children food at their own expense.

In 2012, Save the Children surveyed over 5000 parentsnationwide, and reported that 61% had said that they have cutback on food, whilst 25% have skipped their own meals to feedtheir children.

Zero Hungry City reports a rapid increase in food banks acrossthe UK, and London alone has 40 food banks run by the TrussellTrust. It states that there has been a large increase in peopleusing food banks, rising from 400 in 2009 to 34,000 in 2012/13.Trussell Trust operate one food bank in Kensington and Chelseaand another is run informally by the Dalgarno Trust. OctaviaHousing which operates a voucher scheme for Trussell Truststates in their annual report for 2012/13 that they providedsupport to 120 tenants through this scheme. It is recognisedthat some of these figures may well include returning familiesbut that in itself highlights the growing demand and reliance onfood banks.

3 London Assembly, Zero Hunger City, Tackling food poverty in London, 2013 (p5)

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENANALYSIS

The cost of school uniforms

The project found that the increasing cost of school uniforms wasputting additional financial pressure on parents. Some parentsare being made to buy uniforms from specialist independentretailers and costs can spiral, particularly when buying for morethan one child. It is welcome news that the government recentlyannounced schools were to take action to cut the cost of schooluniforms. Something that in time will be implemented acrossKensington and Chelsea. Until then many parents will continueto struggle to meet the high costs school uniforms command.

Empowering parents

In running focus groups with parents, the Change for Childrenproject was able to encourage them to talk about their goals andwhat they wanted to achieve for both themselves and theirchildren. Parents said that in doing this they felt empowered, asthey had the opportunity to reflect, look at ways to overcomebarriers and begin taking ownership of their own lives. It is clearthat giving parents more of an opportunity to focus on their goalsand how to move forward is of value and doing this more oftencould benefit their mental health.

Keeping parents informed

Whilst the research found that some parents knew about thechanges being made to the benefits system, many were unableto explain what those changes involved.

Although some parents seek advice from advice agencies thereare families that do not do so at the right time. VCOs are wellplaced to keep parents informed of welfare changes and to referthem for advice or support. Keeping parents updated would helpprepare them for what is to come and could also go some way tomaintaining family stability and preventing crisis.

Some parents were uninformed about the many activities thattake place in the borough and they wanted to see more on offerfor their children at the weekends. Whilst information is producedby the council on children’s services and activities it is clear thisdoes not reach everyone. Information on what is available couldbe made more widely accessible and be better targeted.

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENANALYSIS

The role of the voluntary and community sector

VCOs play a vital role in providing much needed services forparents and children. Centres such as World’s End Under 5s,the Venture Centre and Dalgarno Trust all provide a spacewhere parents and children can access free or low cost services.Parents who were interviewed praised the value of theseservices in helping them to cope with daily pressures. Some alsoexpressed concerns that the reduction of such services would beof massive detriment to them and their children.

Voluntary and community organisations are feeling the pressureof the tough financial climate, yet they are continuing to provideservices despite tighter budgets and with increased workloads.Part of the next stage of Change for Children will be to supportorganisations to work together and seek future funding, so thatthey can continue providing much needed services to familiesthat need their support.

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENRECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations

Housing

• The needs of children living in overcrowded conditionsneeds to be considered and acted upon. The council andthe voluntary sector need to work together to look atsolutions.

Childcare

• Flexible childcare provision that supports parents who wantto get back into work should be implemented locally.

Food poverty

• More in-depth research into food poverty needs to takeplace now, with the voluntary and statutory sector workingtogether to look at solutions such as sustainable foodprogrammes.

School uniform grant and free school meals

• Reduce the financial burden on parents by re-introducing alocal school uniform grant.

• Remove the stigma of free school meals by introducing freeschool meals for all children regardless of income.

Supporting parents

• Develop and fund more local parent-focused mentoring andcoaching programmes to support them to recognise andrealise their goals.

• There needs to be a collated effort across the sectors tokeep families informed of welfare changes prior to and asthey happen. This should also be the case in providinginformation on activities and services for children.

• Develop more local wiser-shopping and moneymanagement projects with the aim of turning money worriesinto money plans.

• A greater collective effort across the voluntary and statutorysector to encourage parents to join Your CU, the localcredit union.

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CHANGE FOR CHILDRENRECOMMENDATIONS

References

Citizens Advice BureauEvidence, Childcare Costs in Universal Credit, 2013www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/policy/policy_publications/childcare_costs_in_universal_credit

Kensington & Chelsea Social CouncilSpotlight Kensington and Chelsea, 2012www.kcsc.org.uk/maps

London AssemblyZero Hunger City, Tackling food poverty in London, 2013www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/publications/a-zero-hunger-city-tackling-food-poverty-in-london

London Poverty Profile2013www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk

Octavia HousingGrowing needs, Our response, Impact report 2012-13http://www.octaviafoundation.org.uk/assets/0000/5785/FINAL_WEB_151013.pdf

Office of National StatisticCensus 2011www.ons.gov.uk/ons

Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaJoints Strategic Needs Assessment Child Poverty andWorklessness2011www.rbkc.gov.uk/pdf/Families_childpovertyandbenefits.pdf

Save the ChildrenIt Shouldn’t Happen Here, 2012www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/child_poverty_2012.pdf

ShelterChance of a Lifetime, 2006www.england.shelter.org.uk/_data/assets/pdf_file/0016/39202/Chance_of_a_Lifetime.pdf

4in10No Space at Home, 2013http://www.4in10.org.uk/no-space-at-home

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Kensington & Chelsea Social Council111-117 Lancaster Road, London W11 1QTt: 020 7243 9800 e: [email protected]

@KCSocialCouncil KCSocialCouncil www.kcsc.org.uk

Charity no 1087457 Limited company no 4146375

Funded by:

© Solidarity Sports

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